/.OOLOGY. 369 



iu it. This exceptional result is important, as it proves that the distribu- 

 tion of the organic forms depends on something besides the depth of the water. 



12. Connecting the results above mentioned with those furnished by 

 the soundings made in the western portions of the Atlantic, it appears 

 that, with the one exception above mentioned, the bottom of the North At- 

 lantic Ocean, so far as examined, from the depth of about 60 fathoms to that 

 of more than two miles, (2,000 fathoms,) is literally nothing but a mass of 

 microscopic shells. 



13. The examination of a large number of specimens of ocean water, 

 taken at different depths by Lt. Berryman at situations in close proximity 

 to the places where the soundings were made, shows that even in the sum- 

 mer months, when animal life is most abundant, neither the surface water, 

 nor that of anj r depth collected, contained a trace of any hard-shelled, ani- 

 malcules. The animals present, some of which are even now alive in the 

 bottles, are all Foraminiferse and Diatoms, would have left their hard 

 shells if they had been present. 



As the species whose shells now compose the bottom of the Atlantic 

 Ocean have not been found living in the surface waters, nor in shallow 

 water along the shore, the question arises, Do they live on the bottom at 

 the immense depths where they are found, or are they borne by submarine 

 currents from their real habitat ? Has the Gulf Stream any connection by 

 means of its temperature or its current with their distribution ? The de- 

 termination of these and other important questions connected with this 

 subject requires many additional observations to be made. It is hoped 

 that the results already obtained will induce 'scientific commanders and 

 travellers to spare no pains in collecting deep sea- soundings. If such ma- 

 terials are sent either to Lt. Maury, U. S. Observatory, or to myself at 

 West Point, N. Y., they will be thankfully received and carefully 

 studied. Sill. Jour. 



THE " KILLER WHALE." 



At the Washington meeting of the American Association, Lt. Maury 

 stated that Capt. Royes, a New England whaleman, a while since en- 

 tered Behring's Straits on his cruise. Returning home, the captain wrote 

 him a letter describing the whales which he was acquainted with. There 

 were sixteen kinds that he named, and one of them a strange fish, which 

 the lieutenant did not find named in any of the books. The captain called 

 him the "killer whale," and described him as thirty feet long, yielding 

 about five barrels of oil, having sharp, strong teeth, and on the middle of 

 the back a fin, very stout, and about four feet long. The "killer" is an 

 exceedingly pugnacious fellow. He attacks the right whale, seizing him 

 by the throat, biting till the blood spouts, or till another "killer" comes 

 by and eats out the tongue of the tortured fish, which is an oily mass, 

 weighing three or four tons. The captain sent a drawing of the " killer," 

 which was exhibited. The captain, moreover, said that when he was 

 16* 



